Artifact Report

Chapter 322 Three Perspectives: One for One, Information Injected Too Early, Nest Police Department (NSPD)
On November 26, Fu Tailan pushed open the door to his apartment, which he hadn't visited for ten days. Everything was exactly the same as when he left just minutes earlier.

...That's a really strange statement, he thought to himself with a wry smile.

If there were a camera in the living room, then in the recording of the 26th, Fu Tailan simply walked out the door and came back a few minutes later, as if he had just gone downstairs to check his email.

However, when he returned home, he couldn't help but be surprised that the plastic sheeting covering the windows hadn't fallen off, and there was no dust on the table.

Fu Tailan slumped into the sofa, took a moment to catch his breath, and then took out his phone. The screen, warmed by his body heat, lit up with the time—3:13 PM.

He still remembered the first two phone calls he received; Brianna would call again, it shouldn't be long.

At 3:25 PM, the phone indeed started vibrating. Fu Tailan smiled and pressed the answer button.

Before Brianna could speak, he said, "...I'm back."

She let out a long sigh of relief on the other end of the phone.

He had expected Brianna to hate him so much she would want to kill him—he had even chosen a busy coffee shop in broad daylight to make the handover with the victim; but to his surprise, although Brianna had a cold look and an unpleasant expression and her tone was not very polite to him, she did not seem to be in a difficult position.

However, the smell emanating from "Secretary Green" was so strong that it was almost unbearable.

She has been living in the world as "Green" for at least two years. How could she have suddenly deteriorated to this extent in the past ten days?

As Brianna was about to leave with the paper bag, Fu Tailan couldn't help but call her back once again.

“…What happened?” he said, gesturing with his chin towards Brianna’s body.

She glanced at him sideways out of the corner of her eye.

"Where did you use the other two?" she asked.

"Want to exchange answers with me?" Fu Tailan smiled.

Brianna thought for a moment and nodded.

“Cheese Monroe,” she said, pressing her index finger to her temple in a shooting gesture.

The guests at the next table glanced at her subconsciously; but neither of them cared.

“…Hey.” Fu Tailan smiled slightly, almost satisfied.

This den domination game is truly brutal. Players don't even need to do anything; they can drive each other to their doom.

Speaking of which, didn't resident Mai Minghe also want to join the Nest Domination game? Hopefully, she'll give up that idea after she returns to human form.

“It’s your turn,” Brianna reminded her.

There was a reason why Fu Tailan suddenly thought of Mai Minghe.

“Our family has a hunter named Jonah, who nearly died in the nest this time. If it were just death, it might not be so terrible; what’s terrible is that he said he could feel his brain being gradually assimilated, with many tentacles extending from his brain and worm eggs growing in the grooves… Even though he was rescued, that feeling was already etched into his mind.”

"Speak the key."

"When he was first rescued, he was crying, gagging, and scratching his temples so hard that his skin was raw and his face was covered in blood. He said he never wanted to go back into the nest. You know me, I'm very considerate."

Brianna's face involuntarily darkened.

"I gave his access to another sister who really wanted to get into the nest."

After gaining access and glimpsing the lair for the first time, the receptionist sat blankly in her chair, her face pale, lost in thought for a long time.

Fu Tailan never knew whether she regretted it.

“So you wasted it. What about the last one? Was that wasted too?” Brianna asked. “There were supposed to be three, but you only gave me one left.”

Fu Tailan shrugged. "Didn't we agree to exchange answers?"

Brianna was about to open her mouth when she stopped, as if she had realized something.

He laughed and said, "You tell me one answer, and I'll tell you one too. How can you ask me to give you another one, sister?"

Brianna seemed to have had enough of him and didn't want to say another word to him. She turned and walked away; Fu Tailan, however, chased after her, saying, "Good luck!"

She must have heard it, but she didn't stop walking and pushed open the door to leave the coffee shop.

Ugh.

He hoped she wouldn't misunderstand. Fu Tailan wasn't being sarcastic; he genuinely hoped that one day it would be Mrs. Jacqueline who would repay the favor.

***
Brianna lay prone on the sidewalk in the darkness, inching forward on her elbows.

As long as she doesn't look back and pretends not to see the long shadow of herself behind her, she can still keep going.

Not far ahead lay Green's corpse; but probably no one but her would recognize it as Green.

After falling into the nest, Green's body decomposed beyond recognition in less than a day.

It seemed that the body was also very sensible, and kept enduring and slowing down the rate of decay—but as soon as Brianna took it off, it seemed that it could no longer hold back, and before long, it turned into a large pool of pus covered with clothes and bluish-purple skin.

Fortunately, there were no flies in the nest.

She had assumed that since she and Jacqueline had fallen into the nest from the same place, one after the other, they must have landed in the same spot; and generally speaking, they should have indeed landed together.

So as soon as Brianna landed in the nest, she immediately shook Green off her and yanked him off—but after crawling around a few times, she gradually realized the unpalatable truth.

Jacqueline didn't fall nearby. Jacqueline is gone.

Why? Why can't she fulfill any of her wishes? Does the world not allow her even a little bit of luck?
What to do? Jacqueline isn't stupid. What if she returns to the human world while she's searching for her? Then all her efforts will be in vain, and it will be very difficult to get close again. She'll lose her identity. She has to kill her. She has to kill Jin Xueli. She has to kill this world.

Several minutes passed before Brianna realized she had been screaming the whole time.

The screams filled her ears, numbing her nerves and becoming a constant background noise, to the point that she could no longer hear her own screams.

The sounds of residents echoing under the cover of night are not uncommon in the nest.

She stopped and forced herself to calm down for a few seconds.

Calm down, calm down, meditate, focus, focus, be at peace, I'm fine.

She cleared her throat and found it was so sore it felt like it was being torn apart.

If a person screams for that long, their throat will definitely hurt; so she is still a person, still a person, still a person, still a person, she is...
"There is a way."

Brianna braced herself on her elbows and clapped her hands lightly at the empty sidewalk. "I can put up a bounty."

Even the answer to where to post a bounty is readily available.

All you need to do is call the most talkative, sentimental, and self-important resident of the nest—the radio host.

The "Virtual Guide to Endless Illusions" program is said to be very popular in the lair.

Brianna thought about it and realized that she not only knew about this show, but she also knew exactly how to call the production team and what the number was—information that Brianna, as a human being, should not have known.

The inhabitants of the nest will constantly receive nest-related messages...

That's so rude! Aren't I a human being too?
Sending in information so early, isn't that too hasty?
Brianna instinctively reached into her pocket, but stopped abruptly.

First, she had no pockets; second, she didn't know where her thighs were; and third, she didn't have a cell phone.

Once Green got used to it, he always felt like he could reach for his phone with just a tap of his hand.

The only cell phone she could use was the one Green had on him—the one she had forgotten to take.

So she had no choice but to crawl back little by little until she reached Green's unrecognizable corpse, which might have even given birth to other residents, and took his phone out of his pocket.

Even when making a phone call from inside the den, to a number that doesn't actually exist, you still need a cell phone.

Brianna was pleased that a solution had been found.

Brianna was filled with hope.

Everything will be fine.

***
Before crossing the road, Jin Xueli turned on her flashlight and swept the beam around the area several times.

She disliked the row of thick, shadowy trees across the street.

Even the beam of a powerful flashlight can only scrape away the outermost layer of dark skin, revealing a small patch of pale leaves.

If something is hidden in the bushes, and she only discovers it when she gets there, it might be too late...

But after walking for so long, the first and only public phone booth stood across the street, not far in front of the bushes; Kim Seol-ri had no choice.

She took a deep breath.

It took her nearly three hours to walk down from the scaffolding to Central Park; the woman who looked so much like Jacqueline was long gone.

So much time has passed, and that person who resembles Jacqueline may not have encountered any danger. Perhaps she left on her own... In nearly three hours, she could go anywhere now.

Okay, now there's no need to hesitate or agonize over whether or not to tell the radio host the location that's supposedly Jacqueline...

Jin Xueli didn't know whether she felt fortunate, disappointed, or both.

Nine million... She was already one step closer to nine million.

She can't get the reward, so what can she use to exchange for the information about the original solution?

Ah, no, she wasn't even sure how to contact the radio program team... But, the lair had a radio station, taxis, and many facilities inherited from Blackmore City; so maybe there was also a directory assistance?
Wait a minute, in this day and age, are there still directory assistance services?
The last time she heard about directory assistance was when she was very young; she couldn't even remember if it came from an adult conversation or from television.

If there's no directory assistance, can I call 911?
Nest 911—is the abbreviation NSPD?—Surely they won't hold her responsible?

Jin Xueli was a master of daydreaming. Before long, her mind was filled with countless thoughts, all jumbled together. When she came to her senses, she realized that she had already crossed the road and was standing in front of the public phone booth.

To the left is a row of tall, dark bushes; in front of you is a graffiti-covered, old and dirty telephone booth.

You'll never make progress if you don't try.

Jin Xueli stepped inside quietly—the bushes rustled behind her.

There really was something there—

As she suddenly twisted her body and reached into her backpack to grab the hammer handle, a trembling, breathy voice, filled with both hope and fear, pleaded from the bushes: "Are you...are you human?"

...That was a woman's voice.

(End of this chapter)